Much of the debate around the ordination of women to the diaconate or priesthood hinges on the interpretation of the early history of the Church. Were the women referred to as deacons really admitted to the same role and status as men who bore the same title? Did women really preside over early eucharistic home gatherings? What were the real roles of the women described as deacons and apostles in the letters of Paul?

Writing on the Global Catholic site, William Grimm asks whether what was done in the first few centuries of Church history should determine what happens in the twenty-first century. Rather than look to the distant past for answers to present day questions we should ask what the Church should do in response to the needs and opportunities of the present. Answers from the distant past will not do. He cites the selection of the first deacons in the Acts of the Apostles as an example of how the early Church could produce a new response to a new challenge.

Until we start with this century instead of past ones, the question of ordaining women or even men to a particular ministry is of no use to the mission of the Church.